Half-Heart Hardcore
by tildejustin
Half-Heart Hardcore turns a world hardcore and caps every player's maximum health at half a heart, so a single hit can end a run.
What it does
Half-Heart Hardcore makes a world hardcore and limits the player's maximum health to half a heart. The earliest build is the one used for legal speedrunning, while later builds cover a much wider stretch of releases from 1.0 onward. Server-side only means that a server running the mod limits every player who joins, and players need nothing installed on their own side.
The mod works on multiplayer servers and single-player worlds, and it can also run in a singleplayer world opened to LAN. Because the limit is applied by the server, a server that runs the mod keeps every player at half a heart even when vanilla hardcore has been added since the older releases. Files are published for Fabric, Quilt and Legacy Fabric, and the latest file is 1.1.1 for 1.21.4, dated 2024-12-07.
Versions 1.3 – 1.12.2 use Legacy Fabric and need that loader on the server. Builds from 1.13 onward need the server logic, and the 1.0 – 1.2 line runs through Ornithe with the server side only. The author notes that most snapshots work, including one that changed hardcore handling in 12w18a and an infinite dimension snapshot, 20w14infinite.
Key features
Half-heart health cap
Every player's maximum health is reduced to half a heart, so a world plays as a single-hit challenge.
Hardcore world setting
The mod turns a world hardcore, so a death ends the run as in vanilla hardcore mode.
Speedrun-legal build
The earliest build is the version used for legal speedrunning of the mode.
Compatibility
Latest build for each game version and loader.
1.21.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.20.x7 of 7 versions with builds
1.19.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.18.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.17.x2 of 2 versions with builds
1.16.x6 of 6 versions with builds
1.15.x3 of 3 versions with builds
1.14.x5 of 5 versions with builds
1.13.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.12.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.11.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.10.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.9.x1 of 1 version with builds
1.8.x7 of 7 versions with builds
This mod also publishes snapshot builds. Snapshots are not shown in the matrix.
31 older game versions (1.0 – 1.8.2) not shown. All files on Modrinth
Use cases
Who it’s for: Players who want a harder survival challenge, speedrunners using the earliest build, and server owners who want the half-heart rule applied to everyone on the server.
How it compares
Half-Heart Hardcore is server-side only, open source under the MIT License, and published for Fabric, Quilt and Legacy Fabric across 1.0 – 1.21.4. Incremental Hardcore is also open source, under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later, and it is server required with optional client support, for 1.21 – 1.21.5 on Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt. Easy Hardcore is client-side only and not open source, released under All rights reserved for 1.21.6 – 1.21.11 on Fabric.
| Mod | Loaders | Game versions | Environment | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half-Heart Hardcore | Fabric, Quilt and Legacy Fabric | 1.0 – 1.21.4 | Server-side only | 2024-12-07 |
| Incremental Hardcore | Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt | 1.21 – 1.21.5 | Server required, client optional | 2025-04-03 |
| Easy Hardcore | Fabric | 1.21.6 – 1.21.11 | Client-side only | 2026-02-14 |
Questions
Does Half-Heart Hardcore need to be installed on the client?
Which loader should be used for an older version?
Does Half-Heart Hardcore work with snapshots?
In the catalog
Half-Heart Hardcore is one of 29,952 Game mechanics mods on ModsFinder, and one of 19,630 Game mechanics mods for Fabric. 17,979 mods support Minecraft 1.21.4.
More from tildejustin
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What the author says
mod that makes all worlds hardcore and gives the player half-a-heart max health in 1.3-1.12.2 the mod fixes heart rendering, which is client-sided \ except for that one feature, for all versions it operates on the logical server (so it works on multiplayer worlds when installed on the server and singleplayer worlds…
Official listing
- Modrinth page
- modrinth.com/mod/half-heart-hardcore
- Owner
- tildejustin
- Published
- 2023-08-11
- Updated on Modrinth
- 2024-12-07
- Facts verified
- 2026-10-15